


Strangers Like Me

by Carrot_Bunny



Series: MakoHaru Festival 2015 [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood, M/M, Magic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3369638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carrot_Bunny/pseuds/Carrot_Bunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Give me a reason to believe you. Show me it’s safe to trust you. Show me I’m not alone." Written for the Official Makoharu Festival 2015 - it's posted on their Tumblr page now!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strangers Like Me

Makoto blinked twice in confusion. “What?”

“You say you’re a – a ‘mage’, or whatever. So prove it to me, or else…” The raven-haired boy in front of him held out his palm, and a bubble of water formed and grew larger.

“Water magic.” Makoto couldn’t help himself. “You’re an elementalist!”

“Shut up!” The bubble of water in the boy’s palm quivered violently. It was now roughly the size of a watermelon. “Once this water envelopes your entire head, nobody will be able to hear your screams, and screaming would only deplete the amount of oxygen in your lungs anyway. Your death would be all the quicker.”

Makoto gulped. “Okay, okay, but what do you want me to do?”

“Something. Anything. Whatever magic you have, use it. Give me a reason to not drown you right where you stand.” Give me a reason to believe you. Show me it’s safe to trust you. Show me I’m not alone. That was what Makoto heard behind the threat.

Looking into the boy’s sapphire eyes, he saw wariness, disbelief – and a glimmer of hope. “Okay.” He brought his palms together, and a little seed appeared and began to sprout rapidly. Soon it grew leaves and a small red flower bloomed on the top.

The water splashed uselessly to the ground, forgotten by the person who conjured it as he reached out a hand and stroked the flower’s petals tentatively. “How did you do that?”

“I draw the energy in the air and use it to create a seed. Then I make it sprout and grow with my magic. I’m only a kid though, so I can’t sustain it for very long.” Even as he spoke, a leaf on the plant started to wither.

The boy held out his hand over the plant, and a few drops of water fell from his fingertips onto its leaves. The plant seemed to stand up a little straighter, and the withered leaf regained some of its colour. “It looks better now.”

“Water nourishes plants. It’s better when I grow them directly from the soil, because they can draw their nutrients from the earth. I only learned this two weeks ago.”

“I’ve never seen that flower before.”

“It’s a hibiscus. It’s a tropical flower, so it isn’t native to our climates, but it’s in the greenhouse at school.”

“School?”

“Yeah. We learn normal subjects like math and English there, but we also learn how to develop and control our powers. Everyone has different abilities of course, but we all learn something from each other, and our teachers do their best to help us in any way we can.”

“Are there any… ‘elementalists’ like me there?”

“Hmm.” Makoto scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. “Not that I know of. Elementalists aren’t very common, but they’re some of the most powerful mages in the world.”

“I don’t want to be powerful.” The boy ran a hand gently along the plant’s leaves. “I’d rather have magic like yours, and make things grow.”

“All living things need water to live. If you came to school, you can learn to use your magic to do amazing things.”

The boy looked up. “I can? I’ve never been to school before. I… I’ve lived on the streets all my life, taking care of myself. I’ve also… done a few things I probably shouldn’t have. I make people give me their stuff, and they usually do because nobody here has powers like me. When they try to hurt me though, I… silence them and leave them behind. There’s always a body around here somewhere anyway.”

“Don’t your parents look after you?”

“I don’t have parents.”

There was an awkward moment of silence. Then, “Come with me. You can live in the school dorms, or… or we could ask my parents! I’m sure they won’t mind taking you in. There’s three of us kids at home, but we’ll all fit in. You can share my room if you like!”

Makoto paused for a moment to see the boy stared wide-eyed at him. “Oh yeah, what’s your name?”

“Ha – haru…”

“Haru?”

“…ka.”

“Oh, you’re named Haruka?”

“I – I know it’s a girly name. But then yours isn’t any better,” Haruka said self-defensively.

“It’s okay, it’s a good name. Then let’s go, Haru-chan!” Makoto reached for Haruka’s hand.

“Don’t call me – what’s wrong?” Makoto had suddenly paused in his footsteps. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

“Oh… I can’t find my way back home. It’s how I wound up here in the first place.” Makoto grinned sheepishly.

Haruka sighed. “Down the road in front there’s a boarded-up shop on a corner. Turn left there and you’ll find a bus stop.” He hesitated. “I don’t have money for the bus.”

“I have enough for both of us. Now come on!” And the two boys ran out of the dark alley into the sunlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Makoto and Haruka's magic powers were somewhat inspired by racyue's nature spirit AU - and also my interpretation of what elements they were. Avatard game too strong, ahaha.


End file.
